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Aspaqlaria

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Mi Keil Kamokha
 
Posted: 31 Aug 2007 12:50 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/08/mi-keil-kamokha.shtml

My PDF collection of thoughts on teshuvah, Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur from this blog and my other writings does not yet include the following. Suitable for when your mind wanders on Rosh haShanah or Yom Kippur, you get get the collection here.
 In Tomer Devorah, Rav Moshe Cordevero explains the 13 attributes of Divine Mercy, in particular showing them as exemplars for us to follow  just as I Am Merciful, so too you be merciful. Rather than following the original revelation of these attributes in seifer Shemos, he uses the version in seifer Mikhah (7:18-20) which we say during tashlikh, and begins Mi Keil Kamokha   Who could be Divine like YouPicture a father determined to teach his son how to pitch a baseball. This boy starts picking up the basic skill when he develops anger toward his father, or perhaps simply gets so caught up in pitching that he altogether forgets his father is there. And so, each time the father returns the ball, the son throws the ball powerfully, right at his father. The father overlooks the offence once, twice but how many times would he continue returning the ball just for it to be used as a weapon against him?Hashem sustains existence. We are here in this moment, with the energy to act and the wisdom to plan my actions because of His Mercy. When someone sins, he is using the very existence and power Hashem granted him to violate Hashems Will. And yet, He gives us another opportunity again, and again, and again.This, the Tomer Devorah tells us, is the meaning of Mi Keil Kamokha To have the patience to carry someone even while they offend you, to wait for someone to realize their foolishness.Perhaps this is the motivation for the prohibition ko siqom - do not take revenge. Punishment for the sole sake of revenge can be pointless; it is only when punishment is instructional that it become constructive. Anger and impatience are usually not the path to the resolution of the problem, but rather convince us to stop traveling the road before we get there.
 

This posting includes a media file: http://www.aishdas.org/10YemeiTeshuvah.pdf

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May only goodness and kindness pursue me
 
Posted: 31 Aug 2007 10:17 AM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/08/may-only-goodness-and-kindness-pursue-me.shtml


.וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל-הַבְּרָכוֹת הָאֵלֶּה, וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ:  כִּי תִשְׁמַע, בְּקוֹל ה אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you listen to the call of Hashem your G-d.
- Devarim 28:2

This verse from parashas Ki Savo recalls a line from Tehillim that we sing often:

.אַךְ, טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי כָּל-יְמֵי חַיָּי, וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-ה, לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים
Only, may goodness and loving-kindness pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the House of Hashem for the rest of eternity.
- Tehillim 23:


What does it mean when we speak of something overtaking or pursuing (or even, as the JPS  translation of Tehillim has it, the milder follow) us? Implied is the realization that we so often flee from the very things that are good for us. And with that awareness, we ask Hashem to allow His Good and Loving-Kindness to pursue us despite ourselves!
 
 


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